The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau Newsletter| June 2021




Versiunea în romană a buletinului informativ poate fi accesată aici


Welcome to the Chisinau Office Newsletter!

Thank you for signing up to keep in touch with the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau. June, the first month of summer in the popular tradition bears the name of the fruits that ripen during this period - "Cherry”. It is believed that the autumn harvests depend on the weather conditions of this month. Likewise, the Council Office in Chisinau team, its projects and national partners have been busy laying the foundations for the upcoming activities while continuing working on: child protection, education, a transparent and effective justice, a comprehensive approach to combating hate speech in the Republic of Moldova, better application of pre-trial detention, promoting the right to vote among voters on the left bank of the Nistru/Dniester River and from the diaspora etc. Read our newsletter and you will see other interesting highlights. Thank you for being with us and we wish you a pleasant reading!

A new campaign in partnership with Teleradio-Moldova urges citizens to turn to the institution's Ombudsperson

A new campaign aimed to explain the mandate of the Teleradio-Moldova Ombudsperson Service taken place throughout June. The video spot informs and sensitizes the public about the role, functions of the service and the ways the audience can appeal to the Teleradio-Moldova Ombudsperson, in case they consider their rights have been violated.

The Children's Day was marked by the Council of Europe in Balti and Cahul

Artistic workshops with participation of 30 children of different ages were organised in Balti on 29 May 2021 and Cahul on 1 June 2021 to celebrate Children’s Day. Events aimed to raise awareness of children on child abuse, including in the online environment, prevention measures, as well as to encourage children to report physical or verbal abuse. During both events, organized within the Council of Europe project "Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova", children were informed about the national hotline “Child's phone” 116 111 where they could call in case of abuse and receive help and counselling.

Launching a mural with Kiko to mark the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

On 4 June, the Council of Europe marked the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, by launching a mural with Kiko in the “Valea Morilor” park. The event aimed to raise awareness of children on child abuse and prevention measures, as well as to encourage children to report any kind of physical or verbal abuse. We invite all those interested to see our mural in the heart of the "Valea Morilor" park in Chisinau. The mural will be displayed until the end of the year.

Round table: A comprehensive approach to combating hate speech in the Republic of Moldova

On 11 June 2021, the Council of Europe organised, in cooperation with the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, the Coordinating Council of the Audiovisual and the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training an online roundtable aiming to discuss the application of a comprehensive approach to combating hate speech in the Republic of Moldova, in particular during electoral periods.

Being a joint initiative of several CoE projects, one of which is co-funded by the European Union, the event provided a common platform of discussions for public institutions, non-governmental organisations, electoral stakeholders including political parties, media stakeholders, anti-discrimination stakeholders and potential voters, who had the possibility to analyse possible responses to hate speech, in particular concerning electoral competitors and the role of mass-media.

Role of the electoral stakeholders and media on countering misuse of administrative resources in electoral period

The Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova (CEC) and the Centre for Continuing Electoral Training (Training Centre), organised an online round table on “Awareness raising with electoral stakeholders and media on countering misuse of administrative resources in electoral period” on 4 June 2021.
Over 30 participants and an important number of followers on Facebook representing electoral stakeholders, media institutions and potential voters, learned how to cope with countering misuse of the administrative resources in electoral period in line with the best national and international standards.

Joint efforts to promote the right to vote among voters on the left bank of the Nistru/Dniester River and from the Diaspora

On 15 June 2021, the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova launched two video spots for the Moldovan diaspora and voters residing on the left bank of Nistru/Dniester River. The video spots aim to increase their knowledge about electoral processes in the Republic of Moldova and to motivate citizens with the right to vote to participate in the electoral process in the early Parliamentary elections on 11 July 2021.

EU and CoE support provided for continuous training of law enforcement officials and judiciary to increase equality and non-discrimination practices in the Republic of Moldova

On 3 June 2021, an online round table on enhancing equality and non-discrimination by training law enforcement and the judiciary on hate crime was organised, following European Commission against Racism and Intolerance conclusions on the implementation of its priority recommendations for the Republic of Moldova.
The main purpose of the event was to discuss with relevant national stakeholders the latest ECRI Conclusions on the Republic of Moldova. Thus, the General Police Inspectorate, the National Institute of Justice and the Superior Council of Prosecutors presented good practices on training for law enforcement and the judiciary. The Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring Equality and the NGO Coalition of Non-discrimination and Inclusion presented their inputs on the next steps in combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crime.

Training on appeals against acts of enforcement agents in national courts

In June 2021, a series of 10 online training seminars have been conducted in the field of enforcement in civil and administrative matters, largely based on the new Commentary to the Enforcement Code, recently developed at the initiative of the Council of Europe. The training, intended for a minimum of 200 enforcement agents and judges, is designed to improve the knowledge of the participants and to render more uniform the enforcement and judicial practices.

Prosecutors and investigative judges enhanced their knowledge on the application of constraint measures

36 prosecutors and investigative judges participated in an online seminar on the procedure for the examination of motions on the application and extension of constraint measures. The training was organized on 4 June 2021 by the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” in cooperation with the National Institute of Justice of Moldova.Building the skills in applying and reasoning the concept of reasonable suspicion during the application of pre-trial detention and house arrest procedures was one of the seminar’s major focuses.

The legislative and regulatory framework on selection and promotion of judges and evaluation of integrity risks discussed with the authorities of the Republic of Moldova

The Action against Corruption in the Republic of Moldova presented the results of the assessment on the review of the national framework on selection and promotion of judges with a focus on integrity verifications during an online roundtable on 24 June 2021. The event facilitated an exchange of opinions between the national authorities with competences in selection and promotion of candidate-judges in view of identifying the existing challenges.
The participants had the opportunity to address these topics with the Council of Europe experts and discuss mechanisms to further improve the national framework and existing practices in line with GRECO recommendations, international good practices, and standards.

Progress assessment on reorganisation in three pilot prisons in the Republic of Moldova

A progress assessment of the reorganisation of three prisons - Prison no. 7 - Rusca (women), Prison no. 10 - Goian (juveniles) and Prison no. 1 - Taraclia (male adults) - with the focus on resocialization of inmates and dynamic security was conducted online and noted a good progress in the implementation of the Action Plans for the three prisons and the National Administration of Penitentiaries. The consultants assessed the progress achieved in implementing the Action Plan over the past 6 months and highlighted that despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic extended for the entire duration of the activity, there was a high level of commitment in the pilot prisons to achieve planned goals.

Next steps identified on the way to better application of pre-trial detention in the Republic of Moldova

On 15 June 2021, the Council of Europe project “Strengthening the human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” organised an online round table on the presentation of the draft Roadmap for the implementation of the recommendations from the Research report on the application of pre-trial detention in the Republic of Moldova.The roundtable provided a platform for the criminal justice actors to discuss possible reforms in the field of right to liberty and security. The participants established the next steps for the implementation of the recommendations from the research report.

Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova adopts its Strategic Plan for 2021-2027

On 10 June 2021, the Administrative Council of the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova (CALM) adopted its Strategic Plan for the next six years (2021-2027), prepared with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.CALM President expressed her commitment to implementing the Strategic Plan and encouraged local authorities to remain united and work together.

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